The Grand Duchess Lariessa, covered in every possible piece of shrubbery from the bushes, appeared even more pitiful as she asked Prince Alfonso.

“You weren’t with her, you were with me. Lies, all lies. Who is that woman?”

In an instant, the Count of Campa’s accusation became an accusation against Prince Alfonso.

The prince is lying. But for whom?

Upon Lariessa’s accusation, the crowd stirred once again.

“So the Prince wasn’t constantly with Lady de Mare?”

“Wait, did he make up an alibi?”

“Why is the Grand Duchess crying?”

As Lariessa declared that Prince Alfonso had lied, tears streamed down from her drooping brown eyes.

Lariessa couldn’t believe what was happening today. Her sister’s ‘Golden Prince’ was handed over to her.

It had been a perfect day like no other, but she ruined the atmosphere with her strange remarks, and the prince was protecting an unknown woman. Lariessa wanted to slap herself in the face.

“Prince Alfonso, who is this woman!”

A distressed Lariessa began to appeal to Alfonso in Gallico language.

“Weren’t we in the process of official marriage talks between our two countries? How can an agreement between countries be taken so lightly?”

Nobles who could understand Gallico were surprised at the mention of the marriage talks. There are marriage talks going on! They looked back and forth between the newly appeared Grand Duchess, Prince Alfonso, and Ariadne. The crowd stirred greatly.

Prince Alfonso closed his eyes. How could he possibly resolve this situation?

“Well, why else would the Grand Duchess come all the way to Etruscan! She came because there were marriage talks. But her betrothed spent his time at the masquerade with another woman.”

“The Grand Duchess Lariessa came all the way down to Etruscan to meet Prince Alfonso. The whole country knows about it and she won’t be able to get married anywhere else now. The man is distracted. Tsk, tsk.”

“Oh, he’s distracted with his prospective fiancee because of Count Campa’s mistress? The prince’s taste in women is really like his father. Ugh!”

It was becoming a foregone conclusion that Ariadne was Count Campa’s mistress.

“So, Lady de Mare has no one to verify her alibi? Is that bracelet hers?”

“It’s the Collezioni bracelet and the Collezioni mask, and the necklace is a set. How many of them could there be? The dress color even matches. It’s completely confirmed.”

The situation was dire. Nevertheless, Alfonso decided to do what he could. He called over his secretary Bernardino from the crowd and issued a few commands. Upon receiving the prince’s orders, Bernardino dashed towards the queen’s palace.

After giving his orders, Alfonso licked his dry lips. There was nothing left to do now but wait. He felt a burning sensation inside him.

Ariadne too bit her lip. However, her mind was racing elsewhere.

Duchess Lariessa. The noble daughter of the Duke of Valoa, appearing with the tiara of Valoa. In Cesare’s presence, she pretended to be as indifferent as possible, but the sight of Lariessa pained her immensely.

‘”The Duchess of Valoa is nothing. You just have to wait a little. Once ‘that incident’ happens, the Duchess of Valoa will never dare to come near Alfonso again.”‘

Ariadne tried to steady her heart by recalling an event that would occur in the future. But her anxiety started creeping up. Would ‘that incident’ happen without fail in this life too? Was the future set in stone?

If ‘that incident’ didn’t happen… she didn’t even want to think about it. The stark difference between Lariessa, who was aiming for the prince’s side with the power of the nation on her back, and Ariadne, who had to do everything alone, was too apparent.

“You! Speak!”

In Alfonso’s silence, Duchess Lariessa turned her arrows towards Ariadne.

“Why are you silent? Don’t you have anything to say even with ten mouths?”

Frustrated, Lariessa hurled Gallicorean words at Ariadne.

Duchess Lariessa was also in a mess inside. After all, it’s more comforting to blame the mistress than a cheating husband.

If Alfonso becomes a bad person, then she who fell for him becomes a fool. That was something Lariessa couldn’t bear. So she changed her direction. There was no doubt that the ninetailed fox had wagged her tail at the quiet prince.

When Ariadne didn’t answer, Lariessa thought it was because she didn’t understand Gallicorean, and started pressuring Ariadne in Etruscan.

“Affair, you wicked woman! Prince, affair, infidelity! You wicked woman!”

In addition to her secret affair with Duke Campa, an affair with Prince Alfonso was becoming an established fact. Ariadne bit the inside of her mouth. How could she break through this?

Lariessa’s excitement was escalating. She declared her noble identity and poured out all she wanted to say in Gallicorean.

“I am Duchess Lariessa, the daughter of the Duke of Valoa! I’m going to marry Prince Alfonso of your country. Who the hell are you to wag your tail at my man?”

Duchess Lariessa approached Ariadne and began shouting while lashing out with her fan.

“I hate indecent sluts like you who don’t respect sacred matrimony!”

In Duchess Lariessa’s mind, her wedding with Prince Alfonso was already over.

At the moment when Duchess Lariessa was about to pounce on Ariadne, Prince Alfonso immediately called over his secretary Bernardino and issued a few orders.

He couldn’t just leave Ariadne like this. Whether the Kingdom of Gallico makes a fuss, the engagement breaks, or knights are dispatched to the border, he had the capacity to deal with this mess.

Logically, the best thing to do in this situation would be for Queen Marguerite to intervene.

The queen, a doctor who would diagnose that Lariessa was overly excited, and an attendant from the Kingdom of Gallico who could take Lariessa away could calm the situation.

Bernardino ran inside the palace to find the necessary personnel.

However, before the secretary could return, this situation was resolved by a completely unexpected person.

“It seems there has been a misunderstanding.”

It was a smooth tone with a pleasant tenor voice.

As he finished speaking, he slightly lifted his mask to reveal his face resting on his forehead. His handsome face, as if sculpted, shone smoothly under the moonlight and the torches scattered throughout the garden.

“Count Cesare!”

“It’s Count Cesare!”

After enjoying the people’s surprise upon recognizing him, Cesare responded with a beaming smile.

“For the prince to bear a disgrace for his halfbrother, it seems the bond of growing up together cannot be severed.”

Speaking of the king’s bastard at a formal banquet was a disgrace to the royal family. Cesare was originally not even allowed to mention such things in Alfonso’s presence.

But now, Cesare was the only link between Alfonso and Ariadne. Alfonso was in no position to say anything to Cesare at the moment.

Drawing the attention of all, Cesare wobbly made his way through the crowd and into the very center of the plaza. Passing by the Grand Duchess Lariessa, he elegantly kissed the back of Ariadne’s hand as he stood next to her.

“Lady de Mare.”

“Count de Como.”

At Ariadne’s greeting, Cesare smirked.

“Someone seems to be quite jealous of you. What to do? After today, the number of envious people will increase significantly.”

Having joked with her, Cesare turned towards the crowd and raised his voice.

“This lady is not the mistress of the Duke of Campa.”

He glanced at Alfonso.

“She is not the prince’s secret lover either.”

Looking at Grand Duchess Lariessa, Cesare gracefully extended one leg backward, slightly bent his knee and bowed courteously.

“No need to worry, Grand Duchess. Everything will flow as it should.”

Whispering to Lariessa in Galician, Cesare looked at everyone and exclaimed.

“This lady is the woman I am courting. She has been with me all along.”

It was the arrival of the second man claiming to have been with Ariadne and the suspected third man who was with her.

And that Count Cesare is openly courting her?

The hall became chaotic in an instant.